Freeway, ‘The Stimulus Package’ (Rhymesayers)

On his Rhymesayers debut, Philly’s bearded battle rhymer gets consistently meaty beats from producer Jake One, whose soul-stirring tracks perfectly match Freeway’s energetic musicality on breathless anthems such as “Know What I Mean.” Problem is, proclamations that he’s “about to bring that ’98 hip-hop back” gradually unravel into bizarrely dated dismissals of other rappers (“I’m the MC with the hammer that is too legit to quit”) and witless warnings to competitors who are supposedly “rattin’ like Fievel.” By the momentum-killing third act, the rapper sounds on the verge of exhaustion from delivering Stimulus’ contrived lyrical weight.

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